I have a PC with Windows XP that can't load Windows.  I had some virus problems, asked for help on here, and tried many free antivirus programs and adware/malware removal tools, and I'd gotten it down to just 2 or 3 pop-ups left that weren't even that annoying, and one day I rebooted it and it wouldn't reload Windows and hasn't since.  I was an idiot and had not previously backed up my stuff.  I have a lot of stuff on the hard drive that I want to save, and then I can just format the whole thing and start over.

I now have an external USB hard drive with 286.2 gigs of space on it, a USB flash drive with 15 gigs of space on it, and a dead PC with about 186 gigs of crap on it, and maybe 140 gigs or so that I want to save.

I'm on my wife's Mac laptop.

I've never used Linux and I'm barely getting used to this newfangled Mac thing.

So how do I boot from my jump drive or whatever?  All this confuses the hell out of me.  My ace homie Dogs Rule was helping me out, but I figured it would be more convenient to ask for help in a thread.  I've got this Mac, the PC, the USB flash drive, and the USB external hard drive all at this desk and ready to rock.  Should I format my USB flash drive into a boot disk, or burn a CD?

I'll be up all night trying to save this sucker.  Thanks in advance to anybody who can help this sad old man save his sensitive shit.

I would copy everything you want to keep on the external drive into your wife's laptop, pull the drive from the enclosure and put it in your PC. Pull the drive with the virus out of it temporarly. Install Windows on the new drive, and put a virus scanner on it (I like free AVG).

One the OS is on the new drive, put your old drive back in and scan for viruses. Once it's clean, copy everything over to the drive you pulled out of the USB enclose. Remove that drive and put it back in the enclosure, and blow away everything on your PC HD and reinstall. You can then plug your USB drive in once you have your OS back, and copy all your porn back to your PC.

Good luck!

If you have a CD burner handy, just use that to burn the first ISO they suggest on Ubuntu.com It will be called ubuntu-8.10-desktop-i386.iso

Burn that (most computers will know how to burn it just by double cliking on it). Then boot your dead PC with the cd in it. Select english, Try Ubuntu without .... Let it boot. When you are in your desktop, on the top bar, select Places, then computer, then which ever your hard drive appears to be. Navigate to your important files and just copy paste them to a USB disk.

That is all you need to know about Linux to save your files.

Hahaha, I swear it's not porn. I've got 10 gigs of photos I took in Japan that I never backed up, and I'll go crazy if I lose 'em.

Thanks a million.

I'm gonna burn that Ubuntu CD from the ISO now.


@sorry Dogs Rule, I didn't even czech if you were online. I feel like a jackass. I had a hunch you'd be in here soon anyway.

forgetaboutit. ;)

The more advice you get the better that way you can choose the advice that suits you the best. Getting your files is more important than my ego (not that it was harmed in any way)

After you have done that Rubang, just format your computer. There are almost no viruses in existence that can stand up to the almighty reformat. Its really easy to do, just pop in your Windows installation CD and just follow the menus. You will lose everything on your computer and will have to start from scratch, but it beats having a large paperweight.

also, give Ubuntu a try! You might like it more than windows ^_^

^^ I agree. It seems to fit perfectly with Rubang's personality and social-views. Though he is a film student and that might mean he needs more robust video software.

Looks like the first 2 replies should do the trick.

Aw man. I'm actually really afraid of Linux. I have no idea why. I've never used it. I don't even have a camera or any video software right now. If I can get into Linux I guess I'll keep it until I can afford some really good (and expensive) editing software.

My ISO will be done downloading in 2 minutes, and the burn shall commence.